Instagram opens a huge world of being a product "rep" for your little model! Here are our tips and tricks for starting and running a model IG Rep account. We will be adding to this page often so check back often.
Many shops on IG connect with model accounts on IG to help promote their shop and also help with the photography of their products in action in exchange for heavily discounted products or sometimes free products. This can range from hair bows to bath bombs! There are different levels and different terms like brand rep and brand ambassador. You want to read the shop terms for exact information on what they are offering.
When you start a model rep IG account you are creating a content-based account for your child model. You want to come up with a handle (@accountname) that best represents your model. Most use their first name in that somehow. It’s recommended not to have any personal information on the account. (ie exact locations, last names, and any other personal information) Make your account Public!!! Very important! Private accounts will get less opportunities as public ones. You also want to create a fun and informative bio section. Choose personality traits for your model! You can also use relevant hash tags and emoticons too.
Follow counts Matter.
Okay this is where lots of parents can go wrong. Your follow count matters ... a lot. Businesses want to see if they send you their products that their advertising through your page is actually going to be seen by people. Right away you want to download yourself an IG Follow tracker app. It will help you monitor accounts that; follow you, hope you will follow them back and then unfollow you in 24 hours. It’s called the follow and unfollow game and it’s not nice!! It happens a lot though. Be careful with the third party apps, this year (2020) IG is watching accounts that take advantage of using them too much.
How do you get followers?
Well there’s lots of different ways to do that! The most organic and most effective way is to connect to others in the rep community! There are thousands of model accounts. Make friends with other moms who enjoy doing the same thing with their kids. You can also search and join "follow for follow" groups on IG. A popular one is BrandRepF4F. You will gain all the followers in that community. Your follow counts will not grow without you showing your support back. GIVE! You need to follow accounts back who follow you and most will do the same. Your follow tracker app will help you monitor people you follow who don’t ever follow you back too!
Let’s talk hashtags.
Hashtags are the #1 most important thing on IG. This is how feeds and posts are all connected worldwide! If you don’t use hashtags, or you don’t use them correctly your posts will never be seen. With that said, your hashtags need to be active and relevant. You want to stay away from making up your own, you will be the only one using them. The best thing to do is jump on the search box and start researching hashtags relevant to your model. The search feature will tell you how popular they are or not. You want to stick with hashtags that are min used 1k or more. 10k even better etc!
Hashtag Limits.
Each post you make can hold up to 30 hashtags max, in order to not appear "too spammy" you should stick to around 10-15 tags every time. Why? Because that’s how people see your content, so you want the most amount of hits and views possible. The limit of hashtags on IG Stories is 10. Tip, you can actually type them, make them super tiny, stack them in a pile and then throw a GIF on top of them! You don’t want to dump your hashtags into the actual caption of your photos because it will look heavy. Instead, after you make the post you want to dump your hashtags into the first comment of that photo. Captions: Make sure you always put a period or exclimation mark after each caption.
Hashtag trick.
Do you have an IPhone? Keyboard replacements will save your IG life! Ever notice when you type “omw” it will auto correct to "on my way"? That’s a keyboard replacement and you can make the same thing with your hashtags! You can even put together different groups per content posts. See below.
Let’s talk photos.
Photos on your account are everything! IG is a very heavily used network for media content, so if your photos are not good, they will be passed by. You don’t have to be a professional photographer in order to take a decent photo. Nowadays, you don’t even need a fancy camera in order to snap a high-quality shot, all you need is your smartphone. Regardless of what type of equipment you’re working with, everyone can learn how to take the perfect photo using these pro-tips below. Can you start by using your cellphone? Yeah, definitely, but you have to do it in a smart way because you are already at a disadvantage compared to other moms on IG with professional cameras. Photos should always be bright, clear, crisp, non-crowded backdrops and not busy. Back drops are key to photographs for companies. They want to see their product being used in the real world. That means driving around town finding cool looking brick, water backgrounds, or even forest backdrops.
There is a whole world of reps with Disney annual pass abilities because they can get Disney world in the back of their photos of products. Your photos should also clearly show ... the products! I often try to make sure my daughters facial features are somehow in the photo as well for self-branding purposes.
Plan the perfect time to shoot.
Shoot outdoors if possible because natural light is easier to work with than artificial lighting equipment. Try to shoot your photos during the golden hour, which is an hour after sunrise, and an hour before sunset. You’ll find that by taking photos at these times the shadows are longer due to the lower angle of the light. The warmer tones created by this low light make dawn or dusk popular times of day to shoot portraits, as the soft light is more flattering and won’t make people squint their eyes. If you can only shoot during harsh sunlight hours, look for shaded areas. Of course, it’s not always possible to shoot outside. If you are capturing photos indoors, never shoot in front of a window, or have the light source behind the subject. Another indoor lighting trick is to have the light source come from the side of the subject; this can add some drama to your photo.
Think about composition.
Composition refers to the placement of subjects in a photo, so you’ll want to have an idea of how you’re planning to use the photo before you set up your shot. It’s a good idea to visualize the final design when planning the shoot. Remember to always keep the "rule of thirds" in mind—mentally divide your photo in three and place your subject on one of the dividing lines.
Don’t stress about a smile.
Trying to crack a smile under pressure can be a challenge, especially when the subject is shy. Relax your model to avoid awkward poses by telling a joke or acting silly. Never underestimate the candid moments either, as these can seem more natural. Serious shots with the subject looking at the camera can be powerful and are more appropriate for professional portraits or website headshot photos.
Shoot like a pro on the go.
You don’t need an expensive SLR camera to start taking great pictures. Those who prefer snapping photos with their smartphones can still benefit from some expert tips.
* Before you begin shooting, be sure to clean your lens. This will help to achieve a crystal-clear photo.
* If you’re deciding between a color or black and white photo, always shoot in color first. You can always change to a different filter later.
* Get close to your subject. The more you zoom from afar, the lower the quality. So, step right up and shoot.
Take the time to research. You can get a lot of ideas for poses, backgrounds, and fashion ideas from other model reps. You don’t have to copy them, because you want your own style, but you can collect ideas and maybe snap some screenshots.
Engage Engage Engage!
Engaging with content is also a huge important thing on IG. Once you put up a post, you want people to like it, comment on it and the shops to share it if their product is in it. Make sure you tag any shops you are modeling when you post photos, both on posts and in stories. There are lots of engage groups you can join that help each other with this. You can post your content into these groups and then they will comment and like them for you. You of course do the following in return!